Teacher awarded £150k after being headbutted by pupil among £14.2m compensation won by teachers in 2023

A teacher in Wales has received £150,000 in compensation after being assaulted by a pupil. According to latest figures released by the teacher's union NASUWT, the teacher sustained facial, mouth, and head injuries as well as psychological trauma after he was headbutted and punched by the pupil at a school for boys with social, emotional, and behavioural issues. The union says it took action after the man's employer denied liability and the court ruled in the teacher's favour.

In a separate case, an assistant headteacher was awarded over £43,000 in damages for unfair dismissal. The 48-year-old was laid off after her school which had been created through a merger, went through a management restructuring. The union said the dismissal was unfair because the school did not offer suitable alternative employment to her, given that she was also made redundant from her part-time role as a teacher of art and design and the Welsh Baccalaureate.

These two cases were part of more than £14.2 million in compensation that was secured by the union for its members for 2023. General secretary Dr Patrick Roach said the level of compensation showed the education system was "failing in its duty of care to the profession".

He added: "No amount of compensation can make up for the often devastating impact of physical and mental injury at work. Teachers have a right to be treated with dignity and to be safe when they go to work."